The sine qua non for statutory copyright protection to a literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work under any legal system is that the work must be ‘original’. But no copyright law, whether national or international, has provided any sort of definition or meaning as to what the term ‘original’ in the context of the subject means. The matter, therefore, has been left open for the national courts to determine and legal fraternity to ponder upon. As such, different theories have developed across the globe in relation to the meaning of the term ‘original’ under copyright law. The interpretation of the term ‘original’ has significant legal consequences as it has a direct bearing on the question of as to what qualifies for the subject matter of copyright and what not and is, therefore, an important aid in deciding the cases of infringement of copyrighted works. This paper analyzes the various aspects of the concept of ‘originality’ at international and national levels including the approach of the Supreme Court of India vis-à-vis interpretation of the term ‘original’ as a sine qua non for grant of copyright protection.

“I have a copyright” is a challenge to the world1. Copyright is as good as any other property right. In Holmes vs. Hurst2, it was very appropriately stated that:
The right secured by the copyright act is not a right to the use of certain words, because they are the common property of the human race, and are as little susceptible of private appropriation as air or sunlight; nor is it the right to ideas alone, since in the absence of means of communicating them they are of value to no one but the author. But the right is to that arrangement of words which the author has selected to express his ideas.

In order to avail copyright protection, the criteria fixed for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works are that they must be original works.3 This criteria, however, is not required to be fulfilled in the case of cinematographic films and sound recordings4 due to historical reasons (which is not the subject matter of this article). Originality is a threshold requirement which needs to be fulfilled before enjoying the copyright protection. The notion of originality plays a very vital role in determining whether protection will be granted to work or not. It is the dividing line between a protected and non-protected work. It, therefore, has a direct impact on the determination of infringement of a work. If a work copied is found to be original, it may amount to copyright infringement and if it is not an original one, no question of infringement arises under the copyright law.

Law Review Journal, The Concept of Originality, International Standard, Brussels Revision Conference, WIPO Committee, Berne Convention, Copyright Law, Judicial Interpretation, Juristic Opinions